I'll tell you this: At the beginning of the year, I made a pact with myself to limit my Shabazz Napier stories, sort of like a basketball team vowing to cut down on turnovers or missed free throws. You know -- setting preseason goals. Everyone does it.

And through those first five games, it seemed Napier's preseason goal was to get teammates involved. He nearly averaged a triple-double against lesser competition, and often appeared hesitant to shoot.

On Friday, Napier looked shaky at the line, back-rimming four free throws, the most he's ever missed in a single game at UConn. On Friday, he had committed seven turnovers, matching his career-worst.

But he had matched every Indiana bucket, silencing a red-and-white Hoosiers crowd too many times to count, single-handedly willing a stagnant UConn halfcourt offense in a game that was no doubt slipping away.

It was, quite simply, the most clutch 3-for-7 free throw, seven-turnover game in the history of college basketball.

"God blessed him today to be on this stage and play the way he played," said UConn coach Kevin Ollie.

This 59-58 UConn win, witnessed by a packed-in crowd that seemed more like Gampel than the Garden, was equally ugly and awesome. There were 35 fouls and about 45 lead changes. There were bodies flying, knees scraping the floor, coaches freaking out every few minutes. Kevin Ollie lost his mind when Napier was called for a palm in the first half.

Just about everyone lost it when he was called for a charge with 21 seconds.

It was the seventh turnover by Napier, one that almost cost UConn the game that he had quite literally just won by himself.

"It was a bonehead play by me," Napier said.

After Napier misfired on a 3-pointer and Indiana's Devin Davis secured the rebound, UConn guard Lasan Kromah crept up behind Davis, poking the ball away with 33 seconds. The shot clock had been turned off, but because everything happened so quickly, Indiana didn't seem to realize it. Trailing 59-58, the Hoosiers needed a foul. ASAP.

Kromah sent it to Napier, and he started toward the hoop. Indiana guard Yogi Ferrell was out of position, backpedaling to get in front of Napier.

"Yogi fell," Napier said. "With the new hand-checking rules, it's supposed to be a foul on Yogi. But the ref called an offensive foul."

While Napier explained, Ollie raised his eyebrows once, as if to agree.

"I had to change my mindset and get a stop for the team," Napier said. "There are bad calls, and sometimes you miss free throws when you need it. It's all part of the game."

If Noah Vonleh, Indiana's super freshman who was heavily recruited by UConn, had knocked down the final shot -- or gotten it off in time -- we'd be talking about that charge call through the weekend. UConn fans think it was the worst call since the Paul Pasqualoni hire. Understandable.

In real-time, it looked that way. But Napier initiated the contact, so I'm not sure. It's highly debatable.

This isn't.

"When (Napier) steps up, it's money in the bank," Ollie said.

There were the two 3-pointers to close the opening half.

There was the huge hoop with 7:08, a sequence in which Napier absorbed contact in the lane, flipped the ball to the back rim and watched it drop. He hit his knuckles on the floor three times afterward, his Huskies up 45-42.

Then there was a 3-pointer from the right wing with 4:24. There was the assist to DeAndre Daniels for a 3-ball on the next possession. There was a killer step-back with 2:27 to put UConn up one.

There was another layup, another with contact, at the 1:31 mark. That was the final point scored in this game, the last of Napier's 27 for the night.

Only after UConn got its final stop could Ollie exhale. He hugged everyone from assistant coach Glen Miller to trainer James Doran afterward.

He twice referenced his playing days in the press conference. Yep, this was the type of game that would fire up any ex-player.

"(Shabazz) relishes in the big moment," Ollie said. "Some people run away from the moment but he embraces it. It's just a special quality to have on the basketball court. I know I could never do that. I was the one passing it."

Said Indiana coach Tom Crean: "Shabazz Napier is just too good. He's got one of those unteachable abilities to make big shots at really crucial times."

He's the only guy in the country who can make 3-for-7 and seven turnovers look so unbelievably clutch.